ABLE TO RESPOND: Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom)
Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom): an understanding that “responsibility” is just another word for “being able to respond.” [Screaming at the top of your lungs is one response, but it isn’t the only one….]
This lovely little two-minute clip “Taking Ownership” by Sarang Yande makes a point we often forget: When one person (even a very little person) accepts ownership of a problem, amazing things can happen….
As Nathaniel Branden points out, in his book TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: Self-Reliance and the Accountable Life, “If something is wrong, the question to ask ourselves is: “Are there actions I can take to improve or correct the situation?” (The emphasis is mine.)
It may be only a little thing that you personally can do, but those little things are often pivotal if you’re aiming to live a life with meaning and mana.
The alternative to taking ownership of a problem is illustrated by this You-Tube video “Stuck on an Escalator – Take Action” posted by Motivating Success….
DUH….
Here’s a poem:
AND LIFE GOES ON….
And life goes on…
Whatever is happening
Does a slow and stately dance,
Flowing like dark molasses, heavy and dense,
Or else it tumbles like some hip-hopping crew
Zit-zack-zuck, whizzing by,
All the many, many parts
Zooming, on the fly.
Me, I’m just one little bit –
A ‘one’, a ‘zero’, a spectator, really –
Trying (in my way) to see
The whole meshugennah thang,
Trying to go for the grace,
Step-step-stepping lightly,
Looking for the beauty,
And helping other people play.
I can just do little things:
Lend a hand when I can,
Do the small move that evokes a quiet smile,
Turn on the teeny maglight
And shine it on the path,
Turn one small key that opens one more little lock.
And I’ve been thinking…
Maybe that can be a cool thing.
By Netta Kanoho
Picture credit: Road to Hana by Paul Bica via Flickr [CC BY 2.0]
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SOME OTHER POSTS TO EXPLORE
(Click on each of the post titles below and see where it takes you…)
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20 thoughts on “ABLE TO RESPOND: Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom)”
These two juxtaposed videos make a wonderful point! The small boy taking responsibility and inspiring those around him brought tears to my eyes. The two people “trapped” on the escalator in the second was hilarious and thought provoking – a great combination! Your intertwining of insightful, entertaining videos; thoughtful prose; and down-to-earth poetry are a winning trio! I also like the name of your site. It introduces the content nicely.
Thank you for your visit and your comments, Jennifer. I do appreciate them. Please do come again!
Your site speaks to my Higher, Idealistic Self. We all need to pay attention to our business’s sustainability, such that it promotes individual greatness and the greater good by helping people add value to the world, whether it be their own business or in working for another’s.
We make a mistake when we give a hand out that only leads to dependency or resentment. A hand up allows people to sustain their own lives by adding value to others’ lives. Your suggested read, Banker to the Poor, is a great example of this! Thanks for your informative site!
Hey Rori: Thanks for the visit and your comments. I do appreciate them. Please come again!
This is really an enlightening post! These two videos perfectly show how the size of a problem really is a matter or subjective perspective rather than an objective element. You see these every day. People with huge health or financial problem who carry on and try to live life to the fullest no matter what and people without any actual severe issues getting upset (if not totally stuck) because of minor issues. And the poem is also great, thanks a lot for posting it.
Hey Horatius…
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You are right!!!!!!!! In any situation, we need to ask ourselves what we can do to improve a situation, or look at our own attitudes. Sometimes that is easier said than done. It isn’t always easy for us to look at ourselves or to admit that we could be the cause of the problem. However, if we just focus on ourselves and what we are doing and our attitudes, then we better ensure that our life will have meaning and filled with less “problems”. Great post!!!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome back, VHayes2. I do appreciate your visit and comments. Please do come again!
What a great reminder that we are in control of our lives. It’s incredible really, the power poetry can have on our day to day lives in business, relationships and overall mental wellbeing. I find the beauty in them to be the honesty they highlight. It doesn’t matter your situation, there is always something you can take or relate to from great sayings. Thank you for this eye-opening and motivating post!
Erik, thanks for the visit and for your thoughts. I am glad you liked the post.
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The picture at the top of your post is absolutely stunning. It helps set the reader’s mindset for what they are about to take in. Taking ownership is very difficult for many people. They don’t want to admit there is a problem, or that they have done something wrong; however, when one can take ownership of the problem, their world opens up. Personally, I have been teaching my kids the importance of taking ownership of their actions and problems. It is quite the process, but I may have them watch the video as well as an additional learning tool. Thank you for your post!
Kelly, thank you for your visit and for sharing your thoughts. I like your plan to show the video to your kids. That is cool!
Taking ownership, as you say, is often a very difficult thing, especially for us adults. Guiding your children to do it from a young age is such a great gift for them.
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I absolutely loved the first video. This post is one that resonates strongly with me. If everyone, just do a part then the world and individuals would be so much happier. I truly hope we are shifting out of the me generation and into the us generation. I believe we are. As far as the people stuck on the escalator, if I was behind them I’d just run right past them and wave at them from the top LOL. Some people are that way, and I admit one of my weaknesses is getting aggravated at people who can’t do something. Not because they can’t, because they won’t. This post is a good eye opener, and I hope it opens minds and hearts, nice poem too. Thank you so much for this.
With every post I see from awakened individuals the light grows stronger in my soul. Be blissfully blessed.
Sara, thanks for the visit, for sharing your thoughts and for the blessing too! I do appreciate them. (I think I’d do the same thing as you and run past the no-can-do’s and then wave at them. Hee!
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Hi Netta, thank you for this lesson today. We all need to take ownership for our actions, both for ourselves and for the effect our actions have on those around us. I like how it is a child who makes the first move in that first video. At first people around find it amusing, a little kid thinking he can take on the weight of that huge tree. In the end he is right though, but only because the innocence of his actions inspires compassion in those around him who join him until the group is able to overcome the obstacle. He is joined first by other children. Kids have a remarkable self-belief that somehow we lose as adults because of all the times we fail I guess. I think the ones who succeed in life or in business are the ones who don’t let self-doubt get in the way. Are there actions I can take? – yes! Am I going to overthink it? Hopefully not. Sometimes the obvious solution is staring you in the face, as with the guys on the escalator but we are all so accustomed to expecting others to do things for us that we forget how to empower ourselves. Thought-provoking stuff Netta, thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for your visit and for sharing your thoughts, Ally. I agree!
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Coming across your blog was so nice to see! I often come across the affiliate blogs and “money making blogs”. But when I come across mindfulness blogs, I consider it a blessing in my day!
Working on inner peace and learning to take responsibility of our actions is a very important lesson. I’ve been working on it continuously for about a year now and I’m definitely not who I was a year ago and for that I am thankful.
Thank you for sharing!
Haley, thank you for your visit and for sharing your thoughts. I do appreciate it.
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It is so important that if we are presented with a challenge, or an opportunity, that we have to see what we have control over and therefore can take responsibility, and what we cannot control. I love how you equate responsibility to able to respond.
I love how the little boy started the movement of getting the tree out the way. He obviously couldn’t do it on his own, but by taking action, others followed him and as a team they had success. Thanks for sharing great videos and poems.
I’m pleased you enjoyed the post, LineCowley. Very often, it seems to me, the thought that we can’t do very much gets in the way of our doing even just the little bit that we can do. Nothing at all gets done.
The video reminded me that even doing just that little bit that we can do with great enthusiasm and effort is quite likely to draw others together who are willing to help make a good thing happen.
Just sayin’….